


The Owl And The Man

by Abraxas (Qlippoth)



Series: A500 [24]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Community: Avatar_500
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:07:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22398304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Qlippoth/pseuds/Abraxas
Summary: Zei and Wan Shi Tong spend eternity together.... Not a linear time line; implies somewhat man/owl and that maybe man is not man anymore?
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: A500 [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/20622
Kudos: 32





	The Owl And The Man

Originally Published February 25, 2012

* * *

That part of the Library was cold. Foxes avoided it yet he ventured into its void. Strangely, everything seemed familiar, he could have sworn it. He turned and stopped dead at a corner. It was shadow within shadow - a figure encrusted by sand. He wondered if he were alone....

* * *

Zei attained everything. Others would have cursed fate. Zei did not realize confinement - rather, that Library unveiled freedom. Freedom to roam worlds through volumes too vast to devour within a lifetime. Aeons could not wither its variety.

He salivated as foxes gathered. 

* * *

That figure buried remained unmoved. It had been a trespasser no doubt. Alone, across spans of times undreamt of, he watched as it lost more and more of its humanity. Consumed like fire turned wood into ash.

* * *

Foxes helped the man to read. Into the ear they uttered whispers. Then, little by little their meanings sunk into the brain. Until it was that he became aware of the words as if they came out of the work without intervention. And with that insight a light appeared - had it always existed? - he could not say....

* * *

At the chasm he stared through a skylight filled with the sparkle of the universe.

A form appeared, spreading its wings. A trove of treasure and other alien trinkets tumbled onto the floor at its talons. Foxes scattered the volumes away except the book the man held against the starlight.

"Amazing! How far does man reach?"

"Too far." Beak lowered onto shoulder. Wings embraced and drew nearer, nearer. "You need not worry."

* * *

Was it day? night? Time passed without notice. The world felt dim as he could not read the offerings of the Library. Still, he ferreted about, wishing and hoping to find a way out of the shadow....

"You wish to stay?" asked the owl. "Do you not remember? Do you not care?"

The man recalled that day. The Library shaking, sinking. The corridors filling with sand. He shut his eyes and shuddered. The memory remained, to be certain, yet distant as if to be another lifetime.

"All I offer is myself. Entirely. All of my knowledge."

The owl sighed.

* * *

He settled onto a corner. A company of foxes huddled nearby. Their chatter transforming from inexplicable to language.... Wings withdrew as a fox appeared and beckoned to join. Owl released and he crawled toward the messenger - toward the pile. They allowed him to enter and entangle. In the void what were the differences? Between animal and human bodies? The separation dissolved away and the memory of what it was to be a man extinguished.

* * *

Soon the figure was dust and he wondered why he went to that part of the Library anyway....

* * *

"What was that?"

The Library shook. Shelves tumbled. Volumes scattered.

"The end."

Above, the skylight expanded. Its view of the universe evoked wonder - and fright - with its deep reds, its bright whites and shades of yellow splattered against onyx.

"What will happen?"

"Hold.... Tight," said the owl as evaporated with the man....


End file.
